Record rainfall brings chaos in India

The heaviest rainfall ever recorded in India shut down its financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai, yesterday, closing the airport and halting train services.

Tens of thousands of people were stranded in the city, formerly known as Bombay, with many forced to sleep in their waterlogged cars or on the airport terminal floor. The state-run All India Radio reported 150,000 people stranded in railway stations.

Across the state, at least 90 people have been killed in the last two days - some electrocuted or trapped in cars, others crushed by falling walls. Another 130 are feared buried in landslides.

"Most places in India don't receive this kind of rainfall in a year. This is the highest ever recorded in India's history," RV Sharma, director of the meteorological department, told the Associated Press.

In the confusion, a fire on a gas well just off the Mumbai coast engulfed an oil rig. At least three people were killed and 45 were still missing last night after more than 300 workers had been evacuated.

In a city with more than 15 million inhabitants, hotels quickly filled up. Last night it was announced that the suburban train network would be partially restored.

Troops were deployed after up to 94.4cm (37.2in) of rain fell on Tuesday in Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra state.

The country's heaviest previous recorded rainfall was 83.82cm in 1910 at Cherrapunji in the north-eastern Meghalaya state.

Meteorologists forecast heavy rains and high winds to continue for another 48 hours in Mumbai.

Yesterday phone services either snapped or simply collapsed under the weight of traffic, and many families took to texting television stations which ran their messages across screens all day.

There were also reports of children stuck in classrooms, unable to return home because streets were neck-deep in water.

Jayant Shah told news agencies that he had walked through the night from his city centre office to reach his daughter. "It was safer that my daughter was in school because I was stuck in my office," he said.

The state's political leadership reacted to the freak weather by announcing a public holiday. "We have declared a public holiday and asked people to stay indoors," the chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, said as water submerged several central and suburban areas.

The monsoon feeds India's vast fertile agricultural belt but also brings misery and devastation every year to the country.

Reporters took to the air in helicopters. Srinivasan Jain, of New Delhi TV, pointed out miniature lakes covering parts of Mumbai. "The city is a mess. For those who are stuck down there, it is going to be another uncomfortable night."

The city's bond, commodity and currency markets halted trading yesterday. The stock market stayed open but will be closed today. Business losses for the day were estimated at 7bn rupees (£90m).

One concern was that Mumbai's thriving call centre and information technology industry, which relies on its 140,000 workers being connected to the global economy, would be hit hard.

"There was definitely a concern, but most people just slept in the office," said Kiran Karnik, the president of Nasscom, which lobbies for the country's hi-tech sector.